The North of England has nine in 10 of the worst repossession postcodes across England and Wales, despite the divide between the South halving in the past year, a new survey shows.
According to e.surv, repossessions in the North last year fell to a rate of 2.1 per 1,000 households, compared with 1.4 per 1,000 in the South, a gap of 0.7%.
In 2014, the difference stood at 1.3 homes per 1,000, with the repossession rate in the North at 4.1 per 1,000 households compared to a rate of 2.8 in the South.
This means the divide has nearly halved (-46%) across a year.
Total home repossessions have declined by a whopping 51% to 19,672 in 2015, down from 39,928 in 2014.
As a result, the average rate of repossessions in 2015 across England and Wales now stands at 1.7 per 1,000 households, down from 3.4 per 1,000 the previous year.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv Chartered Surveyors, said: “Repossession levels are retreating – and the narrowing North-South gap is the strongest sign of this decline. Fuelling these improvements has been the triple combination of rising employment, low inflation, and a consistently low base rate. More people than ever are managing to hang onto their homes and keep up with repayment schedules. Alongside this, many homeowners are re-mortgaging to take advantage of the flurry of new deals on offer from lenders. These factors have significantly helped those struggling across England and Wales to get their finances back on track.
The survey also revealed that Northern towns make up nine in 10 of the worst repossession postcodes across England and Wales.
Bolton continues to have the highest repossession rate with 3.5 per 1,000 households – a position it has held since 2004. Just behind was Sunderland with a repossession rate of 3.1 per 1,000, Oldham (3.0 per 1,000), and Liverpool (3.0 per 1,000). In fifth position was Bradford with a rate of 2.7 per 1,000 households.
In the North, 73% of towns had a repossession rate higher than the England and Wales average. Towns managing to record a lower rate than average included Carlisle (1.2), Derby (1.4) and Leicester (1.5).
Sexton said: “The North is battling to change its reputation as a repossession hotspot. Repossessions overall may be dropping, but the reclaiming of homes remains an acutely Northern problem. Across the region, almost three-quarters of towns are seeing substantially higher than average repossession rates. Homeowners in Bolton are still, more often than most, struggling to make mortgage repayments and even in Manchester and Liverpool – two of the North’s most prominent cities – repossessions are prevalent.
“The North has faced heightened challenges to the South in recent years – the loss of public sector jobs, manufacturing industry decline and a tough recession – all of which hit homeowners and potential homebuyers. However, economic conditions in the North are now receiving more attention, with the Northern Powerhouse initiative and the future promise of devolution drawing more towns into the national spotlight.”
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